


White Stars Book 2

by skittheskywatcher



Series: White Stars [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Asexual Character, Asexuality, Badass, Canon Non-Binary Character, Deaf Character, Disability, Dragons, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Female Character of Color, Female Protagonist, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Identity, Genderfluid, Genderfluid Character, Hogwarts, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Metamorphmagus, Metamorphmagus Harry Potter, Metamorphmagus Sex, Muggle Technology, Muggleborn Reader, Multi, Next Generation, Other, POV Character of Color, POV Female Character, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Prankster Harry Potter, Queer Character, Queer Themes, Queerplatonic Relationships, Romanian Dragon Sanctuary (Harry Potter), Squib Harry Potter, Squibs, Strong Female Characters, Teenagers, Trans Character, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:22:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24025039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skittheskywatcher/pseuds/skittheskywatcher
Summary: Shy, awkward Albus Potter is coming to grips with himself - with his own, rising magical talents and being deaf in a world of verbal magic; with being the son of the most famous wizard on the planet, and never quite living up to that...But what he hasn't come to grips with is his secret. The one he won't even admit to himself. The secret involving his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, the boy he was supposed to hate.Scorpius has secrets of his own. Why is he so distracted and distant of late? What is he looking for all those nights he's not in his bed? What is eating him up from the inside? Despite being a squib, he'd always seemed happy with himself. Until now.As for Rose Weasley, dark-skinned and powerful, well she sure isn't taking any of this angsty sh*t from either boy. Why can't they just grow a pair (of ovaries)?BOOK 1 HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7877416/chapters/17991691It is not necessary to read book 1 before book 2, as it is a prequel and the plot makes sense without it.Book 1 is child-friendly and comparatively light-hearted. Book 2 contains some swearing, romance and teen themes.
Relationships: Albus Severus Potter & Rose Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy/Rose Weasley, Teddy Lupin/Rose Weasley
Series: White Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733059
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18
Collections: Harry Potter Fic





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dragon Man

Scorpius scuffed the grey dirt with a toe and leaned forward to hold his marshmallow over the fire. The warm evening air cradled the soft crackling of the blaze, the chirrup-chirrup of crickets, and the sticky-sweet smell of melting marshmallows. The five of them were lounging in Charlie’s garden after a day of travelling.

Rose leaned back on her elbow, licking stickiness off her fingers before pulling out another sweet from the packet. Griff watched her furtively as he caught and released the snitch he’d brought to fiddle with.

Catch. Release. Glance. 

Catch. Release. Glance.

Scorpius had to admit that the marshmallows were fun to toast, and unlike wizarding sweets, they didn’t do anything strange or unexpected, thank you very much. He could grow used to muggle confectionary, which didn’t make you vomit or turn into a canary or blow up in your mouth. He’d had one too many of Rose’s Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes to ever trust non-muggle sweets again. Thank God for Griff being muggleborn. Thank God for muggle marshmallows. He sighed contentedly and tipped his head back to the sky. 

They’d only been at Charlie’s villa in Romania for an afternoon, but he already felt at home. Albus had finally given in to Scorpius’ insistence. It had been inevitable, really. Once Albus had divulged that his uncle Charlie was a dragon keeper, Scorpius simply had to visit. He had to!

Rose, always up for an adventure, agreed, and together they had pestered their families and Albus, until they had given in. Griff had been keen, too; although whether for the holiday, to see dragons, or simply to escape the care home, Scorpi wasn’t sure. 

The final straw came when James announced that he couldn’t come because he had a job at the ministry. Their parents were staying behind for a well-earned break from their pestering; and Hugo and Lily, much to their disdain, were told they were too young to go. Albus had come around to the idea when he realised it would be just the four of them and Charlie. His favourite people in the world.

It had been five years since they’d all become friends; five years of pranks and sneaking about, of sharing homework; or rainy days teasing each other, and summer afternoons with Hagrid and his latest monster-friend.

He, Rose and Albus had cheered Griff on when he tried out for the quidditch team, Rose from her position as beater. The dark roots of their beginnings had become obscured by years of friendship. Scorpius hardly ever thought of that night in the lake anymore. Griff was one of his best friends, now. 

However, if he was painfully honest with himself - which he rarely was - Scorpius did sometimes find himself watching Albus grin, and remembering when that smile had been stolen, smoothed over by skin; and he hadn’t been able to swim or take a bath for five years. Not even when he and Albus had become prefects last year, and gained access to the stunning bathroom with the pool-sized tub and the fountains of perfumed foam… 

It was nothing. Nothing! He was over it. That was years ago; and Griff had proven his remorse and friendship many times, since. And hadn’t their parents been through far worse than being held underwater for a bit? His own father had been trapped in a house with Voldemort and his death eaters for months, for Pete’s sake.

 _But it broke something in him,_ whispered a small, stubborn voice in his head. 

Why did the voice of unflinching truth always sound like Rose, even in his head? She was brash, unfailingly honest, even when it hurt, he supposed. It made her difficult to be around sometimes, especially when you were hiding from some truth or another. Albus was altogether more sensitive in that regard…

He mused quietly, watching the baby dragon that Charlie was hand-rearing until it could be re-released as it bumbled about the garden, poking at the dragonflap in the back door with a blunt snout. With a snort, it released a sudden burst of steam and propelled itself back several feet, landing belly-up in the dust. 

The look of confusion on its face was so comically shocked that they couldn’t help but laugh. Charlie threw back his head and roared with laughter. His firewhiskey jumped from his glass and spattered the ground, and he set it down carefully, flicking droplets from his fingers and shaking his head in exasperation. 

“You’d never know it, but one day she’ll be the most dangerous predator on the continent”, he chuckled. 

Scorpius watched Charlie’s tattoos writhe in the firelight. 

“When can we see an adult one?”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “Tomorrow. I promise. But you have to follow my instructions. ALL of you.” He looked meaningfully at Rose, who froze in the act of whisking away his half-empty glass. 

“That’s strong stuff,” he said. “But go ahead, if you dare.”

Rose, now with an audience, could not back out. She took a breath and gulped down the burning liquid. Her face contorted and she descended into a coughing fit so violent that firewhiskey spurted from her nose and hit Albus. He flinched away with an “Eurgh!”

Charlie’s gravelled laugh rumbled out, and Griff and Scorpius joined in. It was infectious. 

“But seriously,” Charlie continued, “they’re dangerous creatures, dragons. Wild, beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.”Griff glanced at Rose.

“At the end of the day, whatever you’ve heard from Hagrid, they’re not tame”.

Scorpius bit his lip to catch the retort bubbling indignantly to his lips. He liked Hagrid. He really liked him. And sure, he wasn’t always the most logical when it came to magical creatures, but… that same instinct to trust, to not judge, had led Hagrid to be one of the first people to not judge him for his family. It made sense, when he remembered who Hagrid’s mother had been, but still…

Since they’d started Hogwarts, he’d become somewhere between a friend and a surrogate father to the four of them. He always seemed to have time for them and their school news and their teenage worries. He’d even taken them tracking in the forbidden forest when he’d seen Scorpius’ enthusiasm for magical wildlife. And Hagrid had promised to do so again, when September came. He was certain there was a Will O’ the Wisp haunting the woods, and he wanted Scorpius’ opinion. Scorpi knew full well Hagrid didn’t need the advice of a sixteen year old. But he loved him all the more for asking for it.

Despite this last comment, Scorpius had to admit that Charlie was coming in a close third in his list of favourite adults… Albus had always described his uncle Bill as cool, but Charlie… He was on another level altogether…

Still handsome, in a rugged, weathered, middle-aged kind of way; his skin awash with freckles from years in the sun, his orange hair shot with silver in a way that seemed to make him even more good looking, Charlie moved with the unconscious confidence of a man utterly at ease with himself. He was muscled and burned and scarred in ways that only seemed to enhance his looks - and his arms sported two wizarding tattoos of dragons which curled under his skin as if alive. He’d named one after Percy Weasley, who had told him dragon keeping wasn’t a respectable tradition, and one after his first boss, who, he’d said, was a complete-” his last word was bitten up by the bellowing of a dragon in the woods nearby. The tattoos were a reminder not to let people get you down, he’d explained. A kind of personal “fuck you” to the haters. 

Rose had grinned, commenting that her mum’s hair would curl if she could hear Charlie’s dirty language, but Charlie had shrugged. He was who he was, and he would neither change nor apologise. 

Shortly after meeting him, Scorpius had decided that he wanted wizarding tattoos that moved, too, as soon as he turned seventeen next year. He wondered what Albus would say. He caught Albus’ eye and winked. This was going to be the best summer _ever_.


	2. Book 2: Draco Dormiens Nonquam Titillandus

Scorpius knew as soon as he saw the dragon: 

_T_ _his_ was magic. 

A squib he might be, but he could feel the power rolling off the magnificent beast in waves. He felt himself engulfed in its aura; he was drunk on it. His heart beats filled his throat and ears, his blood electric in his veins. 

_I wonder if the others feel_ _like_ _this every time they use magic?_

He took a step closer, then another. Albus grabbed him. 

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" He signed, horrified. 

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I'm training for the ballet, Potter. What does it look like I'm doing?" He grinned, but Albus didn't smile back. His gaze was locked on the dragon. 

Scorpius eased himself free of his friend's clutches. "Come on, Albie. What would Rose do? Do you think she'd let us get away with seeing a dragon and not even trying to get closer? Besides, Charlie said she was tame!" 

"Rose is not even here", Albus grumbled quietly. He stuck his hands in his pockets and allowed himself to look away from the Long-Tailed Scarlet Reaper to cast a worried glance back at Uncle Charlie. 

_My dad rode a dragon once_ _,_ he thought – _and it wasn't a tame one, either_. All the same, a dragon was a dragon, and he'd long since realised that he was no Harry Potter. He eyed the sleeping dragon furling and unfurling its tail like a curl of red smoke. Charlie had never said the dragon was tame, either – simply that he and his team had been handling her since birth. He'd always insisted that there was really no curbing that wild streak in their nature. Quietly, Albus had wondered if this was precisely why Charlie loved them. 

Uncle Charlie had always seemed rather free and wild, himself. He was somewhat dragonesque himself with his large, burned arms, flaming orange hair, and his bright, daredevil smile. When he hugged Albus, he smelled like sunlight and wood-smoke and leather – and it didn't help that he'd had several sharp-coloured dragons tattooed onto his skin (much to Mrs Weasley's dismay). Albus had noticed Scorpius eyeing them in awe as they licked over Charlie's arms at dinner. Even Charlie, though, wouldn't let Scorpius wander into danger, would he? He was supposed to be watching them. And nana Weasley had promised to feed him to one of his dragons if any harm came to them whilst they were under his care. 

Albus tried to catch Charlie's eye, but his uncle was watching Scorpius' glee in fond amusement. He had been a little reserved with Albus' friend at first; held back in his usual easy affections by the name "Malfoy" and the memory of the war. But Scorpius' unassailable enthusiasm for dragons and genuine admiration for Charlie had broken the ice between them. They now got along like a house on fire, and Albus found himself feeling almost jealous at times. 

_He's my friend. He's just my friend_ , he told himself. It had become an all-too familiar mantra of late. He glanced away from Charlie to say something to Scorpius, only to find that he had used Albus' moment of distraction to sneak several yards forward. 

" _Scorpi_!" Albus clapped softly to get his attention. Scorpius pressed a finger to his lips. 

"Shh, she's sleeping. If you wake her up, she won't be happy." Albus could have growled in frustration. "Fine. You're the stubbornest though" 

"And you're the bestest", Scorpius replied, "now come on!" They crept forward, grateful suddenly for the blazing sun, which had evaporated all moisture from the earth. Their footfalls made barely a whisper on such soft, dry ground. 

Two steps closer - 

Three steps - 

The dragon twitched in her sleep, exhaling grey breath like a faulty exhaust engine. Albus felt a cough coming. He fought it back desperately. 

Five steps closer - 

His throat was itching terribly now. He scratched it with his fingers, but the itch was inside, in his lungs - 

Ten steps, and the dragon was so near; so very near. Scorpius began to reach out one hand. 

And the cough broke through Albus' lips. He put a hand over his mouth in shock. 

The world froze for a second. 

Close behind him, Albus could feel footsteps pounding the ground. Was Charlie running? Why? He looked back. His uncle was belting towards them at full pelt, his face stricken. He was waving his arms, shouting too, but the words were unclear; frazzled with panic and exertion. Albus could guess what was wrong though; oh, he could guess. 

The cold crept over him in an instant, the sun blocked out by an enormous shadow. 

A dragon-shaped shadow. He turned. 

In a beat, he took in the wings, arched and stretched to their full length, their undersides like the ceiling of a scarlet cathedral; the legs, thicker than pillars; the great eye itself bigger than Albus' entire body, and Scorpius, Scorpius standing before it, facing it down, alone, Scorpius, stock still, hand still outstretched, Scorpius - 

Albus took a step forward, making as if to run to him. Charlie, still panting, grabbed his collar from behind. 

"Stop!" He signed. "No sudden movements. He'll be OK as long as she doesn't think he's a threat". 

'as long as'. 

'if.' 

'maybe'. 

Albus found he didn't deal well with uncertainties when it came to Scorpius' life. He bit down hard on his lip, tasting blood, and stared ahead. He could feel himself trembling under the warmth of Charlie's hold. 

And then the dragon roared. 

"GET DOWN!" Charlie bellowed at Scorpius. He ducked, and just in time; the torrent of fire missed him by seconds. He rolled, his elbows coughing up dust clouds. The dragon followed him with slinking, feline movements. She was eerily graceful for a creature her size. 

"Lie still!" Charlie ordered. He walked over cautiously, summoning several other dragon keepers with a flare blast from his wand. They surrounded the dragon, closing in, with their own wands raised high. Scorpius pressed his body flat on the ground. This was quite a feat when his blood was pumping fiercely in his ears and he felt like his muscles had turned to liquid adrenaline. Albus could see him breathing raggedly from ten feet away, his white-blond hair stark against the dark ground, half his face iced with that awful, clinging grey dust. Their eyes met. Albus tried to smile reassuringly. Scorpius began to smile back. 

And then the dragon's jaws closed over his head. 

Albus' scream tore from deep inside his throat. It was a haunting blade of sound; feral, terrified, and burning with grief. 


	3. A Tight Squeeze

*swearing & sexual tension*

Chapter Text  
CHAPTER 2: Rose.

They’d left without her. She couldn’t believe it! Those snot nosed gits went to see a dragon - without her! Rose rolled out of bed, whacking her shins against the side of Albus’ empty bed. She hopped about on one foot, yelping, and tripped over her broomstick, landing with a soft thunk in yesterday’s abandoned robes.

“Owww” she moaned, eyes watering. 

“Serves you right for being so messy”, came a drawl from the far side of the room. Griff turned about in a swivelling chair, slowly, savouring his latest dramatic entrance. A smirk flickered across his face.

“What are you doing in here? I was asleep!”

Griff grinned lazily. 

“Oh… this and that”.

“Perv.”

“For you? Oh yes, snoring like a troll is so alluring, Weasley. I just can’t stay away.”

She stuck out her tongue at him. It was too early to come up with a witty response. Pushing down an odd queasiness, she stood up angrily, pulling overly-bright stockings up to her thighs and stomping over.

“Well? Why are you here, then, if I repulse you so much?” 

Griff averted his eyes from her arms, crossed over her chest, and she suddenly realised that she didn’t have her bra on… fuck it. If he was going to snoop whilst she was sleeping, he could bloody well live with the consequences. She uncrossed her arms, and puffed out her chest deliberately. Griff swallowed, his eyes firmly on his boots, a deep flush crawling up his cheeks. Merlin’s beard, white boys could flush. She bit her lip and advanced a few more steps, one eyebrow cocked.

“I was…” Griff gestured behind him, to the tray piled high with eggs, bacon, fried bread and….

“Black pudding?” Her favourite. Perhaps she would consider forgiving him… Maybe… If he kept blushing so hard, she might have to. 

He nodded, his eyes firmly fixed on a spot above her shoulder now. She grinned.

“So, you made me breakfast?”

“Well, Charlie made… erm, sure, yes, just for you. All by myself!”

“Well that was convincing. I suppose you bred the chickens and farmed the wheat too.” 

“Don’t mock me. I gathered this with backbreaking work, with blood, sweat and tears, through pain and hardship-”

She rolled her eyes and interrupted his tirade. “So why were you just sitting there, then, letting it go cold?”

Griff finally looked at her. At her eyes. determinedly at her eyes. Definitely not lower.

“No ‘thank you’?” 

She leaned across him to spear the topmost fried tomato slice. She could have sworn his breath hitched. 

“Thank you”, she said, a mouth full of red mush. 

“Charming.” He replied, and rolled his eyes.

She smacked the chair so that it swivelled about with some speed. She enjoyed playing with him. What could she say? The boy was helpless; a mouse. And she was a lioness. 

“Don’t you think you… get off a bit too much on the whole Griff thing?” Scorpius had said to her last year. “Casual flirting is one thing, but… I think he really does, you know… like you. And you… I don’t know, is it a power thing? Or the attention? Because you get loads of attention already, from everyone… Look. I’m not having a go, OK? I just… don’t want my friends to hurt each other.”

She’d stormed off in a huff, slamming the door and cracking the window; but mostly because Scorpius was right. She did flirt with Griff; and he did follow her around but… it was never about him. Or power or attention… Sure, she did seem to get attention from boys and girls alike; but never from the one person she really wanted… 

She shook her head and licked tomato sauce from a finger. Griff watched the movement as if his life depended on it. She found herself suddenly irritated.

“ What ?”

“What?” He echoed.

“You don’t have to watch me eat every bite. You’re always there, watching me”. Hurt flashed across his face. “I never get you”, he said. “One minute you’re hot, then you’re cold…”

Rose quashed the guilt welling in her stomach. “Sorry.” She muttered. There was a beat of silence. “This is really good”. 

Griff huffed and sat forward himself, stealing a piece of fried bread. 

“Hey!” She swiped for it, and he caught her wrist, and all at once he was inches away; his smile changing, becoming intense. Rose became aware of how close they were; she was half atop him in her dive for the bread; his fingers circled her wrist, warm. He was so close that she could see the freckles dancing across his jaw, and that golden streak of hair which always caught the sun - 

Oh, no. His other hand was moving for her cheek, the fried bread forgotten, falling. He was drawing closer.

Did she want this?

She was frozen, unsure, half wishing for him to kiss her, half wishing she could disapparate far, far away and never have to face this - 

Albus and Charlie tore into the room, panting. Rose leapt off of Griff as if she had been stung. 

Charlie frowned, but dismissed the scene, and a minute later, Rose understood why. 

“Scorpius-” he panted. Rose found herself standing, without remembering having done so.

She was halfway across the room by the time Charlie had finished the sentence.

“He’s gone - a dragon - took him. Flew off.”

“Is he alive?” She blurted out, turning to find Albus’ face wet with tears.

“We don’t know”, he signed. 

“What are we waiting for?” She shouted; “we need to find him!” Grabbing her wand and pulling yesterday’s robes over her pyjamas, she tumbled out of the door of Charlie’s spare bedroom. 

“Rose!” Charlie sounded uncharacteristically stern. “I came back to drop Albus off. You three aren’t yet seventeen. I’m responsible for you! You have to stay here, in my house. I’m going to gather up the other dragon keepers and we’ll find Scorpius. We’ll bring him back, OK? I just need to know that you three are safe whilst we do that.”

Rose shook her head. “If you think -”

but Charlie had turned to the doors and windows , and was pacing, muttering spells over them.

“Charlie! I’m coming with you!” 

“Me too!” Griff said, standing at her shoulder. Albus stepped to join her other side and nodded through his tears.

Charlie finally turned to them. 

“Look, I’m sorry. I can’t have anything else happen, OK? Next year, when you’re all of age, you can make your own decisions. Until then…” Uncle Charlie shrugged his brown shoulders, his orange hair falling into his eyes. Rose took a step forward, her hands on her hips. She looked remarkably like Mrs Weasley. Charlie noticed this, and disapparated with a sharp pop.

“That git!” Rose cried, whirling on the other two. Griff and Albus took a step back at the fierceness of her expression. 

“Like we’re actually gonna stay in here…” She pulled her shoes on, grabbed her broom, and dragged her fingers through her hair, giving the breakfast one last, longing look, before marching out of the room and down the stairs. The boys followed her, glancing at each other behind her back. The front door, however, refused to budge.

Rose pulled and strained, she yelled, and pulled out her wand. Albus grabbed her hand. “You can’t do magic outside of school!” He signed. She shook him off, angrily. 

“I know. But we can’t just… sit here!” She kicked the front door for good measure, and then put her head in her hands.

“What exactly happened, Alby?” 

“The dragonflap!” Griff said, suddenly.

“You what?”

“Charlie’s got a flap for the baby dragons to get out into the garden.”

“And? - OH!” She yelped. “You are a genius!” She grabbed his elbows and shook him in excitement; but let go quickly; the memory of the almost kiss burning her fingers. Griff looked a little dazed.

“I think that’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me-”

“And if you two plonkers don’t hurry up, it will be the last!” she cried over one shoulder, as she raced to the back door and shoved her head through the dragonflap. It worked; Charlie had clearly not thought to charm this particular exit! With a move like a contortionist, she hauled herself though the opening. It was barely big enough to accommodate her, and some of her curls were left behind, waving in the faint summer breeze. Albus came next, tumbling through. Griff was harder. Lean, he might be, but he was still broader than she and Albus were - and certainly more so than the average baby dragon. He got stuck part way through.

“Erm, could you-?” He began.

Rose and Albus took hold of him and tugged him through, until the dragonflap vomited him in a pile on the floor. He coughed and sprang to his feet, brushing himself off. 

“Nothing to it,” he said, brightly. “Easy as breathing”. Rose raised one eyebrow but didn’t comment. She leaned down and straightened a crooked stocking.

Albus reappeared at her side; she hadn’t even noticed him leave; and tossed Griff a broomstick. He was already scrambling onto his own and whooshing off into the cloudless sky. 

Rose and Griff mounted their brooms and followed him a minute later. Never mind Charlie - they would find Scorpius or die trying.


End file.
